One summer day back when he was one of the best runners in Boulder -- which meant in the nation and the world -- Stan Mavis took on the University of Colorado Nordic ski team.

The NCAA champion Buffs were the best skiers in the nation; Mavis and a few other locals were the best runners.

The athletes, all of them lean, tan and shirtless, met at Chautauqua Park. The challenge was simple: Get to the top of Green Mountain first. The skiers did it each summer as part of their training, and Mavis wanted to take them on.

It was an "unsanctioned race."

And as half-marathon world record holder Mavis found out, the Scandinavian-born skiers had a European approach to racing: Get to the top by whatever route you choose. When the race started, the runners ran out ahead across the rolling meadow, the skiers trailing behind.

Up the climb toward Saddle Rock, the runners still led. Suddenly, looking ahead, the leaders saw the skiers up the mountain in front of them. They had taken the direct route, using the "ski-hiking" technique to pass the runners unseen.

Louisville-based Pearl Izumi would have liked this Green Mountain challenge, based on its ongoing "unsanctioned" campaign, part of Pearl's "Run Like an Animal" theme. The idea of "UnsanctionedRacing.com" -- which, in addition to print ads, includes an online app providing runners and their friends gear for organizing grassroots events via Facebook -- is simple, said Geoff Shaffer, Pearl Izumi's global marketing director.

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"There is a subculture within the mainstream running market that enjoys creating its own events in an off-camber fashion. Some people don't want to run a road race with 10,000-plus runners on a Sunday morning."

Brett Astor, a local radio marketing executive and runner not connected with the company, called the ad campaign "bold," adding that it "takes an unconventional approach."

Mike Sandrock

"Instead of appealing to mainstream runners who run mainstream races, PI is appealing to the rebels, the adventurers, and those who have distaste for the corporatized taming of the sport of running," Astor said.

The campaign seems to be working. According to Shaffer, 838 events have been organized so far, with more than 10,000 runners signing up to attend a friend's race.

Of course, races are not allowed up Green Mountain or any other city or county open space area, or on city streets without a permit.

Keeping this in mind, Pearl Izumi, as well as a new book by Duncan Larkin, "Run Simple," bring up a good point -- that running and racing are, at their core, simple and do not need to be encumbered by gadgets.

And that's how it was for many years, according to Rich Castro, who organized a variety of races over his years as a CU track coach and head of the university Recreation Center, and as founder of the Boulder Road Runners.

"Fewer competitors allowed races to get away with more than races do today," Castro said. "Almost everyone was a seasoned runner, and expectations were low."

Indeed, runners were happy to have a start line -- sometimes just a chalk mark across a street or sidewalk -- and a set of directions yelled out by the organizer, typically a fellow racer, at the start. Another Road Runner, Don Hayes, recalled that when he started running in Austin, Texas, roughly 40 years ago, "small, funky neighborhood races" were the norm.

The price of races back then? Anywhere from $3 to $10, including a T-shirt. Castro pointed out that even Denver's United Bank Marathon had just a $6 registration fee.

"Races were low-key," Hayes said. "The only refreshment at the races, if any, was water."

Castro went on to organize Boulder's first large road races, the Memorial Hospital Half Marathon, starting at Viele Lake and finishing at Fairview High School, and the Run for the Roses 15K, which attracted large crowds and the attention of Steve Bosley, who would go on to found the Bolder Boulder 10K.

"We came up with some very fast courses, and things seemed to work," Castro said. "All the finish line stuff was done manually, but it came out OK. We worked with a shoe-string budget on every event." Organizers did not get paid for putting on the races.

Castro summed up the spirit of the early days well when he added: "To draw a significant number of runners today you need to put on a show, and that requires a huge investment, resources and staffing.

"Gone are the days when we used to time ourselves and were just glad to have a hard run where we didn't have to stop at intersections. We went from a bunch of weird guys running around in their underwear to well-known athletes and community figures."

Hayes, 81, fondly recalled an "unsanctioned" trail race he used to run. The starting point varied from year to year; the only way to find out where to go on what day and time was to receive a phone call or get whispered directions from a friend. "Afterwards, there was a big party at a dentist's house," Hayes said.

Sounds like fun, I told him.

Is this underground race still going on? Hayes smiled and did not reply. Either he didn't know or wouldn't tell me.

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